“Dear Machinist friend, Guess what? You know that program I told you about after all that whining about, “There’s no integrated CAM solution for Autodesk Inventor! Whah hahah!!” Well, I know they taunted you with the announcement last September. Now, it is actually here. I know, I know, I accidentally swallowed some cutting oil as well when I heard.”
In the office these days, there’s a lack of drama. Drama that could be taken to awesome new levels with the right amount of hand gestures, teeth gritting and intense looks of determination behind the glow of a 30″ HD monitor. 3Gear Systems is bringing all that in multiple ways today, introducing impressive new gesture recognition (smack), previewing an entirely new depth-sensing device (SMACK) and announcing $1.9 Million in seed funding (SMAA-HAACK!!). With it, they plan to deliver a gesture recognition system that “actually works” and can be used in a broader array of applications than anyone has ever thought possible. Here’s just how they’re changing the gesture control landscape.
I’m sure you’ve sat at a business lunch–one that isn’t going so well–with the scene quickly reimagined as you screaming, “Tell Jabba…” and firing a blaster beneath the table to take our your would be assailant. (Yes, Han shot FIRST.) In December, Han Solo’s blaster from Star Wars was auctioned off to an anonymous buyer. The iconic prop fetched $200,000; was slightly worn, slightly dusty and yes, not in the slightest way functional. Some thought this ridiculous, yet it is a movie prop permanently etched in movie history and our minds. The shape sets it apart and for the collectors or sportsmen sci-fi-sters in the audience, a full-blown, laser-firing BlasTech DL-44 HEAVY BLASTER PISTOL would be the ultimate prize. For Bob Boyd, the same holds true and even though we’re not quite there with lasers, his article details the adventure of everything that goes into recreating a live-ammo-firing Han Solo Blaster.
This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’re sitting down and having cherry pie with David Lynch (okay maybe not literally, but we can pretend) with some Twin Peaks-inspired music. We’ll start with ‘Bridge’ from Amon Tobin and work our way through some Bobby Vinton, Chris Isaak, Dirty Beaches and others before wrapping up with ‘Summer Wine’ from Nancy Sinatra.
Since they came on the scene around a year ago, botObjects and their ProDesk3D 3D printer have been criticized, ridiculed and threatened due to controversial product renderings, failed shipments, and lackluster customer service. There was even a Twitter account created for those who pre-ordered a ProDesk3D to vent their frustrations. Well, in an effort to…